Since we had a lot of places to see and ground to cover to see them, we got up at 6:30. Breakfast at 7:22 featured French toast sticks. They were not bad.
When we left at 8:03 (2192 on odometer), it was clear and the car said it was 52 degrees. Within 6 minutes, we saw snowy mountains in the distance again. We also saw a lot of places selling RVs, as well as RVs parked at people's homes. Two huge trains caught our attention as well, as they seemed to have just miles of cars. One was hauling coal.
At 8:30 (2220), we stopped at a rest area to be able to photograph the Beartooth Mountains. This was the first time we saw this sign:
When I posted it on Facebook, people jokingly asked, if rattlesnakes could read. There was a pet area that was fenced in and had plastic wrapped around the lower 1-2 feet, no doubt to keep out the snakes. Even with that, we saw some foolish people just walking their small dog in the high grass at the bottom of the parking lot.
It was 55 degrees, when we left at 8:45, but it didn't feel particularly cold. We drove through rolling terrain with lots of hills. I 90 was more or less following the Yellowstone River and the railroad. It was cool to see this part of the river, since we'd seen it when we visited the park years ago.
We took a photo pause at 9:14 (2257).
The Crazy Mountains were captured on film at about 9:18.
Bozeman soon came into view and by 10:23 (2330), we were parked at the Museum of the Rockies on the Montana State University campus. We were in a bit of a time crunch for the whole day, so we agreed to not read all the signs inside.
Being a AAA member pays off, as with the discount, it cost us $26 for the two of us. Right near the entrance desk is the planetarium. We didn't go in, but we did look at the outside displays and touched this piece of the Canyon Diablo meteorite. I mean, how can you not touch a piece of outer space. It was unfortunate that we could not touch the cube, since that was a piece of a a meteorite from Mars.
We soon discovered that one thing this museum has is dinosaurs. You can get a degree there in their study. I had not realized that so many dinosaurs once roamed Montana.
Another focus of the museum is the Native Peoples. That is understandable, given how many native people are still there. They had a lot of signs with info, but not as many artifacts as you might like. I was drawn to the toys.
They also focus on the life of the settlers. This tar paper shack seemed much less than comfortable.
There were some cars from the early 20th century and items from that time period. Truthfully, the museum should be called "Museum of Montana" rather than "Museum of the Rockies." We did like it, though.
Having our fill of alligators at home in Florida, we skipped the special exhibit on crocodiles.
Outside there is a large teepee on one end of the building that attracted a group of children. At the other end is the Living History Farm, which features the Tinsley House displayed as it looked in the 1890s. I'm sure living then was less than idyllic, but the scene today was lovely.
You walk by a charming little vegetable garden, as you head for the front door. The plants are helpfully labeled, which I truly appreciate. Flowers complemented the scene.
The rooms were furnished appropriately. The upper floor had a docent in costume in a room with several looms. There was another docent cooking and answering questions in the well-equipped kitchen. A sign warned that no one could eat the food produced there.
When we left at 12:05, we were only 5 minutes over our allotted time and quite proud of ourselves. My daughter guided us to a restaurant downtown that AAA recommended, The Garage, which is literally an old filling station. Parking was tough and I didn't want to commit myself to it too early. So, I pulled into a full parking lot and waited while she went across the street to inquire. The wait time to eat indoors was at least 20 minutes, which was far more than we could afford. So, I headed for the highway.
She directed me to a restaurant a couple of exits down I 90. This was Famous Dave's Barbecue, which she is familiar with in DC, but I've never experienced. I really try to avoid chains that I know on vacation, limiting myself to one visit to McDonald's if at all possible. But, as I said, I haven't been to this one, so in we went. (Odometer: 2336.)
There were not many people there at 12:29. The decor is heavy on hunting and fishing and the place is brightly lit. Basically, it has a western feel, which is good. Our orders came very quickly: Briskit with Mashed Potatoes and BBQ Chicken Platter with creamy cole slaw. The latter wasn't quite what I expected. It was a leg attached to a thigh. I really don't care for legs. However, we were splitting our meals again, so I gave my daughter the leg. The briskit was good with the various sauces we tried. The corn muffins were quite good.
We weren't very hungry afterwards, but felt we couldn't leave a barbecue joint without trying the Banana Pudding. We have found memories of the place we used to stop at in North Carolina with great barbecue and fine banana pudding. The pudding had nice chunks of fresh banana and the serving was enough to split.
We headed off again at 1:23. The car said it was 68 degrees. It wasn't long before I realized that I was having trouble staying conscious. This is not an unusual thing for me in the afternoon or after dinner, but it was the first time it had happened on the trip. (I chalk this incredible sleepiness to the 300 mg of Lyrica I take each day.) This is why I had wanted to have my daughter on the rental agreement as a back up driver. I had even signed her up for AAA membership, so that it would cost nothing to have her so listed. At 2:06 (2385), I found a place to pull over to change drivers. I fell asleep almost immediately, waking only one time, when she had to hit the brakes.
She woke me, when she was getting into Helena. She cannot parallel park (!) and I assured her that I could take over, if there was no lot. Luckily, there is one right in front of the state capitol and she was able to pull into a spot at 2:55 (2431). It was a comfortable 73 degrees as I took my artsy photo of the dome.
Inside, you do not go through security, let alone a metal detector, like you do in Florida and many other capitols. There is a sign saying no guns and a security guard at a podium in the center of the building. He kindly found the stamp to stamp my state capitols passport and gave us a brochure to use for our self-guided tour. After a pit stop in the charming old restroom that had been updated, we headed upstairs to the rotunda.
It really was quite lovely. The colors were beautiful and the dome was gorgeous. The grand staircase was impressive.
We roamed the building, with my daughter reading descriptions as we peered through windows at the old supreme court, as well as the current legislative chambers, which were locked. We were able to take some pretty good photos.
Afterwards, I wanted postcards and the same security guard pointed us to the Historical Society across the street. The place had been recommended by the man who confirmed our reservation for tonight, when I'd called. So, we strolled across the street and walked in at 4.
Since it was the last hour that we were open, our entry was free. We hadn't really planned to look at the exhibits, but after buying postcards and pins, we headed for them in a hurry. We chose the historical exhibits over the special art exhibit first. They had more artifacts than the Museum of the Rockies, but still plenty of signs. We saw lovely Indian clothing, Victorian furnishings and even a sheep wagon, which sheepherders lived in during summer months.
We still had time, so we strolled through the Charles M. Russell exhibit. He was a painter and sculptor who really took to the Montana scenery and the Old West. He lived from 1864- 1926.
We left at 4:43 and walked back to our car on the other side of the capitol. I made sure to drive in front of the capitol lawn, when we left at 4:52, in order to get this year's version of the sight I saw on postcards.
At 5:09, we pulled into a rest area on I 15 in order to take a picture of the Elkhorn Mountain Volcanoes. The view had been better along the road, but you take what you can get.
We loved the views along I 15, which had a lot of ups and downs. My daughter is getting good at taking photos from a moving vehicle.
It wasn't long before we were lured off the road by a "Scenic Overlook" sign. At 5:52 (2492), we found ourselves with competing views: the mountains behind us with some white statue on top and the valley with Butte in front of us. A handy sign told us that the statue was Our Lady of the Rockies, perched on the continental divide. No sign had told us we were crossing the continental divide! I was rather upset by that. I was glad, however, to take a picture of Mary, so that I could see her better.
Butte was tougher to take a picture of, because we were facing the sun. We could sort of see one of the mines to our right. A panoramic photo seemed to be the best choice.
We wanted to eat dinner before going to the night's lodging. My daughter found an historic drive-in in the AAA book and we headed to the south side of Butte. At 6:10 (2496), we arrived at Matt's drive-in. The ice cream window was closed and when we walked inside, there was a squared-off U-shaped counter with seats and a narrow path around them. The waitresses and ice cream section were inside the U. We managed to get the only seats available at that time over on the side. There was no sign of a restroom. The 2 waitresses were kept busy with customers in the restaurant, as well as a couple of take-out orders. The place is known for its shakes, so we both ordered chocolate. We were given the mixing cups, so we basically wound up with two each. I ordered the Hamburger Deluxe with fries for $7.23 and my daughter got a BLT for 6:30. The burger was actually 2 hand-formed patties. The fries were greasy and greatly improved by my addition of salt and ketchup. The shakes were good and the burger was serviceable. My daughter liked her sandwich. They only took cash and they locked the door to prevent anyone from coming in at 6:45, which struck us as very early. We were out at 6:50.
The car needed gas, so we went to the Exxon right next door, especially since I have a Plenti rewards card that works there. We'd traveled 311 miles on that tank and got 10.506 gallons at $2.329 each. The pump asked if I wanted to use 400 points to save $4.00. Heck, yeah!
At 6:58, we were on our way to the Copper King Mansion. We passed over streets named, as my daughter put it, for "states, presidents and stuff you can dig up along with the usual Park and Broadway". We climbed a steep hill, turned left and then right onto an even steeper street next to the B &B and parked at an angle at 7:07 (2497).
We climbed up the front steps and rang the doorbell. An elderly gentleman invited us in and his wife had me fill out paperwork in the kitchen. There was a bit of confusion as she gave our Family Room key to a couple, but it was quickly sorted out. After showing us our room and its adjoining bath, we were let out a side door to get our luggage in without climbing those front steps. My daughter hauled
both suitcases up to the landing and then the second floor, God bless her. We realized we should have just packed small bags for the night.
Back in October, we had been booking hotels for all the cities we were staying in. When we were looking at what to do in Butte on TripAdvisor, the Copper King popped up and it really excited my daughter. So, that's why we'd booked it. We chose the Family Room because it had two beds and did not share a bath with any other room.
The room had all kinds of Victorian bric-a-brac on the tables and walls. Before settling into the room, we slipped out to peak at the other rooms before they were occupied and looked and the living room, dining room and music room downstairs,too. This beautiful stained glass window is on the landing.
We'd been told that we were welcome to sit in the small landscaped yard next to the side door, but the owner was smoking a pipe there and I don't do well with pipe smoke. So, we stayed in our room. My daughter got the wifi to sort of work and sat on her bed on the internet. I sat on the small sofa and did needlework, which seemed particularly apt. The room was a tad musty and warm, so we opened the windows that would open. That helped both until it really got too chilly. By then, either the mustiness was gone or I was used to it.
Even though I no longer take baths, I was not going to let that tub go to waste. I settled in with a magazine and had a nice soak. The only problem was getting out. My knees really hated when I knelt momentarily in order to be able to get into a standing position, but getting to use that tub was worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment